As I transported my daughter aboard a gas guzzling sedan to middle school Wednesday morning, even one the of the local FM rock stations was getting in on the Veterans’ Day spirit. We sang along to the Lee Greenwood classic, “Proud to be an American”.
The central lyric is so familiar it just rolls off the tongue: “And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.”
As we coasted through suburbia on a sun-washed autumn morning that line hit me like a brick wall. At least I know I’m free? Do I? Am I?
In the age of Obama, we were promised the post-racial Presidency. Looks like we were handed the post-Constitutional, post-Declaration of Independence Presidency. For now, we’re still essentially “free” but the scope of that freedom no longer feels like it has infinite boundaries.
It begins with speech. With words. With meaning. And with manipulation of meaning in the name of political correctness and the crushing Socialist agenda sweeping across Washington, D.C.
Consider the following list I drew up in just a matter of minutes. It could be much lengthier for sure, but I fear it demonstrates where we are in the post-Lee Greenwood era.
Not Islamic radicalism … religious diversity.
Not terrorism … alleged shooting incident (Ft. Hood).
Not free-market capitalism … unregulated wealth building.
Not death counseling … an affordable health care option.
Not politically correct … tolerant and fair-minded.
Not Socialist … transformational.
Not a War on Terror … routine law enforcement.
Not freedom of speech … hate-crime speech.
Not productivity … greed.
Not Communism … redistributive justice.
Not Tea Party patriotism … angry white people.
Not Commander in Chief … Campaigner in Chief Barack Hussein Obama.
As Veterans’ Day 2009 slips into history, I am proud to be an American because our brave men and women who wear the uniform make me proud. And because civilians who rise up in the face of violent Jihadist insanity make me proud. I’m thinking about the NYFD and NYPD on 9/11, and about the brave Ft. Hood police officer, Kim Munley, who last week gunned down the terrorist Nidal Hasan.
I’m proud, but I no longer know I’m free. In 2009, my fellow Americans and I are left to pray that we are.
1 comment:
Freedom is not a simple concept. It is does not mean whatever conservatives say it means.
Basic political theory contrasts 'freedom to', civil liberties, and 'freedom from', or security. Both can take differnt forms. Civil liberties can take the form of freedom of speech and freedom to carry weapons. Security can take the forms of security from external forces (e.g., 'national security'), security from ones own government (e.g. 4th amendment) and economic security. As the examples show, neither kind of freedom is exclusively liberal or conservative with respect to today's political trends.
I seem to recall a lot of conservatives pushing the slogan 'Freedom isn't free'. Well, no, and this applies to all kinds of freedom, not just national security.
Some people feel that the choice between bankruptcy or going without health care, while qualifying as the freedom to choose (between two bad options), does not qualify as freedom from unnecessary suffering.
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